Strathmore’s Student Concert Series Starts Today

The Music Center at Strathmore’s “Student Concerts,” the annual series of National Philharmonic Symphony Orchestra performances for Montgomery County Public School second graders, kicked off today.

One of the center’s main community service initiatives, the series will provide more than 10,000 second graders the opportunity to learn about the orchestra during seven concerts in four days.

The 2,000-seat concert hall opened in North Bethesda (5301 Tuckerman Lane) in 2005 with almost $100 million in funding from Montgomery County and the state of Maryland. The student concerts, which have been held since the opening, represent an investment of $124,000, according to a press release.

The concerts include a video of instruments on a large screen hovering above the orchestra as it performs. The goal is to teach students about the four families of instruments that make up the orchestra. Students also sing along with the orchestra.